Even though I agree with the general consensus that, for the purpose of this thread, we shouldn't consider Lemieux- Francis- Jágr as a thing [and folks, it would make it easier to follow along if we ALL adopted the convention of listing lines from left-to-right, the way we read... LW- C- RW]- that trio made such an impact in my subconscious (and, apparently, others too), that they deserve their own treatment.
That 1995-96 season mentioned earlier- that was the one year where Lemieux scored more Power Play goals than even-strength goals. I have specific memory of Lemieux being the recipient of continuous restraining fouls. Jágr was victimized in this manner, as well. Every now-and-then (but less than it should have been) some of the fouls were actually whistled as penalties. {Keep in mind, this was Dead-Puck-Era Hockey. Most of the time, Skitching was functionally legal.}
Pittsburgh (to my surprise) was not particularly advantaged by Power Play opportunities for. They were only seven Opportunities For higher than league-average. 10 teams had a higher figure. In another strange twist, they were "on-the-podium" for Power Play opportunities against- only two teams had a higher number in that column.
But when they got on that Power Play, though...
Lemieux is in that category of player that brings so much lethality to a Power Play that it more than makes up for some even-strength lapses. In this era, McDavid, too, deserves consideration in this manner.
When, in a season, the Team Superstar scores more Power Play goals than even-strength goals, when the team breaks the counter for Power Play percentage (8+% over league-average, and an absurd 4.6% higher than second place!), I guess that's part of why many of us remember Lemieux- Francis- Jágr as a line, even though (for the purposes of this discussion) they're not, really...
